The detention hearing should be held the first business day following the youth’s detention and not more than 48 hours after the youth has initially been detained. Intervening weekends and holidays should not extend this 48 hours. The JUVENILE JUSTICE GUIDELINES recommends that juvenile justice courts hold detention hearings on Saturday mornings to avoid unnecessarily detaining a youth over the weekend. Difficulty contacting the parents and notifying them of the need to appear in juvenile justice court should be the only reason to delay the detention hearing beyond the next business day. In many cases, when the parent appears for the hearing, and when counsel is available and able to talk with the youth and parent prior to the hearing, all pre-trial issues can be addressed at the detention hearing.

When a youth is summoned to juvenile justice court, the initial hearing should be held as close to the date the petition was filed as service of summons will allow.

In addition to the detention and typical initial hearing, some juvenile justice courts provide a third timing option. This option, an expedited initial hearing, can be requested by the arresting officer for a youth who was not detained, but whose risk level was close to the threshold for detention. In this system, the arresting officer is able to immediately obtain an initial hearing date within five days, and the arresting officer serves the summons to the youth and parent immediately.

The JUVENILE JUSTICE GUIDELINES recommends the combination of all plea and pre-trial issues into the first hearing, whenever possible, over a separate arraignment hearing at which time counsel is appointed for two reasons. First, it prevents the youth from going through a juvenile justice court hearing without the benefit of counsel. Second, it eliminates an additional hearing on every juvenile justice court justice petition. Eliminating the additional hearing saves significant resources because:

• Parents must come to court and potentially miss work once instead of twice;
• Youth must come to court and potentially miss school once instead of twice;
• Less time passes between the filing of the petition and resolution of the petition, enhancing timely juvenile justice court decisions;
• Docket time is conserved;
• Prosecutor and counsel time is conserved; and
• If the youth is in detention, the number of detention days is reduced, assisting with detention census control, and minimizing the harm to the youth caused by detention.

The first contact between families and the juvenile justice court is often the detention or initial hearing. Because this first meeting sets the stage for the family to become positively or negatively engaged with the juvenile justice court process, it is important to create an atmosphere of respect, dignity, courtesy, and cultural understanding. At this entry point, the juvenile justice court can exhibit these qualities in many ways:

• By providing a clean, orderly, attractive, comfortable, and safe waiting area for the youth and family;
• By providing separate entrances and waiting areas for crime victims who may be attending the hearing;
• By providing private, clean, orderly, attractive, comfortable, and safe areas for the family to meet with counsel;
• By providing simple to understand materials that explain the juvenile justice court process in languages that represent significant ethnic groups in the community who do not speak English;
• By providing easily accessible certified court interpreters to family members who do not speak English or are hearing impaired;
• By creating a trauma-responsive court that seeks to minimize trauma triggers and includes psychoeducational material;
• By being respectful of a youth’s gender identity by not making assumptions about a person’s gender and using a person’s preferred pronouns during the hearing;
• By ensuring all justice system participants show respect for everyone who comes into the juvenile justice court;
• By beginning the hearing at the scheduled time;
• By involving all family members who are present in the courtroom, showing them that their participation is important. This can be accomplished by ensuring that parties and key participants introduce themselves and explain their relationship to the youth; and by ensuring that, during the course of the hearing, the juvenile justice court gives parents, custodians, tribal representatives (as applicable), and other individuals pertinent to the issues an opportunity to speak; and
• By checking with youth and family members at the conclusion of the hearing to see if they have any questions and make sure they understand everything that is expected of them moving forward. It is particularly important to be sure they know the next key dates (e.g., of appointments with service providers or probation and court hearings) and where those key events will take place.

In some juvenile justice courts, brochures and other explanatory materials are available in the waiting areas. In other juvenile justice courts, videotapes are played in the waiting areas that explain to youth and families their rights and what will occur in the juvenile justice courtroom. Both methods increase a family’s understanding of the process, and increase their ability to effectively address the issues in the hearing. These materials supplement the responsibility of counsel for the youth and the juvenile justice court judge to explain rights and the court process.

At the start of the detention and initial hearing, the following information should be available:

• The petition and affidavit concerning the alleged law violations and any motions that have been filed;
• Information regarding the youth’s prior involvement with the juvenile justice court, including any other pending charges, and whether the youth is under the court’s abuse and neglect jurisdiction or child welfare agency’s jurisdiction;
• If the youth is in detention, information regarding the youth’s adjustment and any issues of concern;
• If the youth is in detention, any information from the detention intake screening process that indicates immediate service needs of the youth, such as medical or mental health needs;
• If the youth is on probation and in detention, information from the probation officer that may be pertinent to the decision of whether the youth needs to continue to be held in secure detention, placed in a residential detention alternative, or can be released with or without restrictions;
• If the youth is on probation, information from the probation officer regarding any cultural or disability issues that would assist the judge to successfully communicate with the youth and family;
• If the youth has an IEP or 504 plan that would require accommodations by the court;
• Information about trauma history, mental health needs, or prior mental health hospitalizations;
• The parent’s position on whether the youth is welcome back at home under parental supervision; and
• If the youth is in secure detention or shelter care, whether the youth is receiving services, or may need services that could be funded through Title IV-E.

Juvenile justice court judges must be vigilant to ensure that they do not allow the reading of the petition and explanation of rights to become a mechanical process. This can be difficult when dockets are over-crowded, multiple cases are scheduled at the same time, and the judiciary covers these process points multiple times every day. It is important to read the petition and explain it in plain language and restate in different words if necessary.

It is equally important for the judge, especially when dealing with a youth and parent for the first time, to watch for indicators that they may not understand what is happening. When verbal or nonverbal warning signs of a lack of understanding appear, it is important to slow the process. The judge must carefully assess whether there are issues of competency to stand trial that need to be addressed and simplify language to assist the youth and parents to understand. Competency to stand trial issues are discussed in the next section.

Prior to the hearing, the youth and family should have been served with a copy of the petition and affidavit and given a written explanation of their rights. Both items should be written in simple language designed to assist understanding. When qualified counsel represent youth and have prepared before the hearing, counsel will have also carefully reviewed the petition and rights with the youth and family. Counsel will have significant information from these interactions to assist in identifying whether there are questions of competency to stand trial that need to be addressed.

Once the petition has been read, and the juvenile justice court is assured that the youth and parent or guardian understand the allegations, due process rights should then be reviewed. These rights include the right to counsel, the right to have parents present, the right to a trial, the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses, and the privilege against self-incrimination. The burden of proof and possible consequences if adjudicated of the offense should also be reviewed. Depending on state statutes, other rights or issues may need to be reviewed. If no counsel is involved, the judge will need to take extra care to ensure the youth and parents understand their rights. The youth and parent or guardian should sign a statement that they understand their rights, and if the youth, in consultation with the parent or guardian and counsel, chooses to waive any right, the youth, parent or guardian, and counsel should sign a written waiver. If the prosecutor has requested that the juvenile justice court waive jurisdiction and transfer the case to the criminal court, the juvenile justice court should explain the process it will use to rule on the motion, and the potential consequences if the court grants the motion.

When qualified counsel is involved, the juvenile justice court can be confident that when the youth and parent or guardian respond that they understand the allegations, understand their rights, and choose to waive a right or enter a plea, that they are making knowing, intelligent, and voluntary decisions.

At the start of the detention and initial hearing, the following information should be available:

• The petition and affidavit concerning the alleged law violations and any motions that have been filed;
• Information regarding the youth’s prior involvement with the juvenile justice court, including any other pending charges, and whether the youth is under the court’s abuse and neglect jurisdiction or child welfare agency’s jurisdiction;
• If the youth is in detention, information regarding the youth’s adjustment and any issues of concern;
• If the youth is in detention, any information from the detention intake screening process that indicates immediate service needs of the youth, such as medical or mental health needs;
• If the youth is on probation and in detention, information from the probation officer that may be pertinent to the decision of whether the youth needs to continue to be held in secure detention, placed in a residential detention alternative, or can be released with or without restrictions;
• If the youth is on probation, information from the probation officer regarding any cultural or disability issues that would assist the judge to successfully communicate with the youth and family;
• If the youth has an IEP or 504 plan that would require accommodations by the court;
• Information about trauma history, mental health needs, or prior mental health hospitalizations;
• The parent’s position on whether the youth is welcome back at home under parental supervision; and
• If the youth is in secure detention or shelter care, whether the youth is receiving services, or may need services that could be funded through Title IV-E.

A juvenile’s competence to stand trial should be explored through additional questioning during the detention or initial hearing in order to determine whether or not a clinical assessment is needed, when the juvenile meets any of these criteria:

• The juvenile is younger than 15;
• The juvenile has a history of developmental delays, mental illness, or trauma;
• The juvenile’s educational or medical records describe borderline intelligence or learning disabilities; or
• The juvenile is exhibiting deficits in memory, attention, or reality testing.

Counsel for the youth is obligated to request a clinical assessment of decisional capacity if the youth’s competency to stand trial is in question. The juvenile justice court judge is independently obligated to order an assessment if the judge’s observations raise competency issues, even if counsel does not request an assessment. If an assessment is needed, the juvenile justice court judge should order the assessment, specify the person responsible to arrange the assessment, and continue the detention or initial hearing for as short a period of time as possible for the assessment and report to be completed. If the youth is in detention, the need for continued detention must be addressed.

If the clinical assessment determines that the youth has significant decisional capacity impairments, the clinician should describe the areas of impairment and recommend whether hospitalization, treatment, or service interventions will enable the youth to become competent. If the juvenile justice court judge determines that the youth is not competent to stand trial, the judge should either:

• Refer the youth for mandated treatment if there is reason to believe that the treatment will render the youth competent to stand trial and the prosecutor chooses to continue to prosecute the petition; continue the case for the shortest time possible required by the treatment intervention to determine whether progress has been made in restoring the youth to competency to stand trial; and specify where the treatment will occur, when it will commence, and who is responsible to ensure that all appropriate arrangements are made; or
• Dismiss the petition if there is no reason to believe that treatment will render the youth competent to stand trial, or the prosecutor chooses not to continue to prosecute the petition; determine if probate or other legal action is appropriate, and if so, identify who will pursue the legal action and when; or, if appropriate, provide information to the youth and family regarding an agency or service that can either assist the youth to improve the impairments or maximize the youth’s ability to function with the impairments.

Except when the prosecutor has requested a transfer to criminal court, a separate hearing to determine probable cause is often unnecessary. If a motion for transfer has been filed, the juvenile justice court must set the case for a separate probable cause hearing. If a motion to transfer has not been filed, and if there are any issues of probable cause, counsel should raise them at this time. Unless counsel specifically requests a separate hearing to determine probable cause, or unless the prosecutor has filed a motion to transfer, the juvenile justice court should move to the plea phase.

Consultation between the youth, parent or guardian, and counsel regarding whether the youth wishes to admit or deny the charge should have occurred before entering the courtroom. The juvenile justice court judge should again read the allegations against the youth and ask the youth’s counsel whether the youth admits or denies the allegations. If there are multiple counts within a petition or multiple petitions, each should be read separately, and the youth should be asked to respond individually to each allegation.

If the youth, through counsel, has decided to admit all counts of all petitions, the youth should complete and sign a plea petition that, in addition to listing rights, has a statement of admission and describes what occurred. The youth should recite the facts of the offense, and the court should accept the admission and adjudicate the youth. The juvenile justice court has several options regarding how to proceed depending on the specific circumstances of the case.

• If this is a detention hearing, and the judge is not the family’s assigned judge — The case should be set for a disposition hearing on the docket of the assigned judge. Prior to setting the disposition hearing:
  • The juvenile justice court judge must decide whether the youth should continue to be detained in secure detention because he or she is a danger to self or others or is at risk of absconding or reoffending; whether the youth should be placed in a detention alternative; or whether the youth should be released with or without restrictions pending the disposition hearing.

If the youth will continue to be detained, the disposition hearing should be set as soon as possible and no longer than five business days, unless additional information is needed that will take a longer period to obtain. If additional information is needed, the hearing should be set no longer than 10 business days.

• • If the youth will be released from detention, the disposition hearing should be set as soon as possible and not longer than 10 business days, unless additional information is needed that will take a longer period to obtain. Under no circumstances should the disposition hearing be set for a period longer than 20 business days when the youth is not in detention.
  • If the youth is released, and if the victim is not in court when this decision is made, the prosecutor or probation officer should notify the victim of the youth’s release.

• If this is a detention hearing, and the judge is the family’s assigned judge – The hearing can move to the disposition phase if all information and all necessary individuals are present.
  • If the youth is released, and if the victim is not in court when this decision is made, the prosecutor or probation officer should notify the victim of the youth’s release.
• If this is an initial hearing and the youth is not in detention – The judge hearing the case should be the family’s assigned judge, and the case can move to the disposition phase if all information and all necessary individuals are present.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, WHEN THE YOUTH IS NOT DETAINED, SHOULD THE DISPOSITION HEARING BE SET FOR A PERIOD LONGER THAN 20 BUSINESS DAYS.

If any of the allegations of the petition are denied, and the prosecutor has not filed a motion to waive and transfer, the juvenile justice court judge, parties, and key participants should discuss whether dispute resolution alternatives are appropriate as opposed to setting the case for trial. If a dispute resolution alternative is appropriate, the parties should agree on the specifics of the dispute resolution alternative, and the juvenile justice court judge should continue the hearing for the shortest time necessary to complete the dispute resolution alternative. At the continued hearing, parties will either present a proposed resolution or inform the juvenile justice court that resolution has not been possible. If there is a proposed resolution, the juvenile justice court must determine whether to approve the proposal and make it a court order. If the juvenile justice court approves the proposal, a review hearing should be set at a time appropriate to the details of the court approved resolution, to ensure that all parties have complied with the resolution that has become a juvenile justice court order.

If dispute resolution alternatives are not appropriate, have failed to produce an agreed proposal, or have produced a proposal but the juvenile justice court judge does not approve it, the case should be set for trial on the docket of the youth’s assigned judge. If the prosecutor has filed a motion to waive juvenile justice court jurisdiction and transfer the case to criminal court, the case should be set for a probable cause hearing.

Regardless of whether the case is set for trial or set for probable cause hearing on a motion to waive and transfer, similar issues must now be addressed. Since counsel and prosecutor are present, pre-trial or pre-probable cause hearing issues can be identified and resolved. These issues include:

• Determining the necessity or desirability of amendments to the pleadings;
• Discussing the possibility of obtaining stipulations of fact and documents that will avoid unnecessary proof;
• Identifying any additional pre-trial motions that the prosecutor or counsel for the youth intends to file. Both prosecutor and counsel for the youth should turn over all discovery materials according to juvenile justice court rule and as properly requested as soon as possible as well as pursue discovery under informal procedures as appropriate;
• Identifying expert witnesses;
• Exchanging names of witnesses to be called during the trial and the general nature of their expected testimony;
• Setting deadlines for dispositive motions; and
• Any other matter that may aid in the timely completion of the trial.

Discovery delays and disputes are a common cause for unnecessary continuances and slow resolution of juvenile justice court cases. Juvenile justice courts, by statute and court rule, should specifically define obligations with regard to discovery. As a result, only under the most unusual circumstances should it be necessary for the court to be involved in discovery disputes. The presiding judge over the juvenile justice court should make it clear to all system participants that, within the juvenile justice court’s discovery rules, disputes and delays will not be tolerated.

The juvenile justice court judge should question both attorneys about the number of witnesses to be called and determine the amount of time needed for the trial or probable cause hearing on a waiver and transfer motion. If the case is complex and there are multiple issues that will need to be addressed at another date, the juvenile justice court should simultaneously set two hearings – a pre-trial hearing and the trial or probable cause hearing. The pre-trial hearing should be set within a timeframe that allows the trial or probable cause hearing to be held as soon as possible but no later than 10 business days if the youth is detained and no later than 20 business days if the youth is not detained. It is important that the juvenile justice court judge or judicial officer ensures that a sufficient amount of consecutive trial time is set aside on the juvenile justice court’s docket so that it will not be necessary to continue the trial in progress. Non-consecutive trial dates are inefficient and take more total time than if the trial is continuous. They unnecessarily require witnesses, victims, and families to come to court more times than is necessary. They delay timely juvenile justice court decisions.

If the youth is detained, a determination must be made regarding whether there is reliable information to support the youth’s need to remain detained in secure detention or whether the youth can be released with or without restrictions. It is important to identify whether the youth is receiving or may need services that could be funded through Title IV-E so that the proper eligibility determinations can be made.

In order to ensure that all issues have been covered at the detention or initial hearing, the judge should know the answers to all of the following questions before concluding the hearing:

• With whom does the youth live and who has legal custody?
• If a parent or custodian is not present, why not? How can he or she be located to ensure parental presence at the next hearing? What are the names and phone numbers of close relatives or other significant individuals who may be information sources, act as a parental substitute, or provide possible places for the youth to stay temporarily?
• Is the youth a member of a Native American or Alaskan Native Tribe?
• Has the youth had access to, and been appointed qualified legal counsel?
• Does the youth require an in loco parentis, and if so, has an appropriate individual been appointed?
• Are there any indicators that the youth is not competent to stand trial?
• Has a motion to waive juvenile justice court jurisdiction and transfer to criminal court been filed?
• What are the youth’s school grade, educational program, and school adjustment?
• Is the youth receiving any current services?
• Is the youth homeless or at risk of homelessness?
• What is the makeup of the youth’s household? Who lives with the youth?
• If the youth is in detention or on probation, did the detention screens, youth’s behavior, or probation information indicate any physical or mental issues that need to be immediately addressed?
• If the youth is in detention and the judge hearing the case is not the youth’s assigned judge, who is the assigned judge?
• If the youth is in detention, is there reliable information to support a finding that the youth needs to remain detained in secure detention, or can the youth be released with or without restrictions? If the youth is released and the victim is not in court when this decision is made, the prosecutor or probation officer should notify the victim of the youth’s release. Issues that should be considered in making the detain or release decision include:
  • Is there reason to believe the youth might present a danger to the physical safety of the community or to reoffend upon release?
  • Is there reason to believe the youth might have contact with the alleged victim or potential witnesses upon release?
  • Is there reason to believe that the youth may not appear for juvenile justice court proceedings, attend probation meetings or other obligations, or otherwise fail to comply with the juvenile justice court’s orders?
  • Does the youth have a history of engaging in behaviors that will endanger himself or herself, or has the youth made statements leading to a reasonable belief that he or she will engage in such behaviors?
  • Does the youth have any medical, physical, or mental health issues, including a trauma history, that place the youth’s safety in question in a detention setting?
  • Does the youth identify as lesbian, gay, transgender, queer, or gender non-conforming which places the youth’s safety in question in a detention setting?
  • Is there an environment adequately structured by family, community, school, or other support systems to enable the youth to avoid harmful behaviors and associations? In considering this question, the juvenile justice court must ensure that racial and ethnic disparities are not an unintended result of a negative determination. The court should ensure that family group conferencing is used, when appropriate, to identify all available family members and to create a supervision plan, and that appropriate resources exist to provide support to families when detaining the youth is not in the youth’s best interest.
• Will the conditions in the detention center or merely being separated from family cause harm, including trauma, for the youth?
• If the youth will continue to be detained, have the parent’s or guardian’s questions about detention, including visitation, been answered?
• Are Title IV-E funds being used for the youth’s placement or services, and is there any possibility that Title IV-E funds will need to be used for the youth’s placement or services if adjudicated on the charges? If so, has the court made the necessary findings?
• If the youth has denied the allegation, are dispute resolution alternatives appropriate?

The juvenile justice court’s written findings and orders should be stated in language understandable by the parties and with enough detail to support the court’s actions. The juvenile justice court’s findings and orders should be set out in writing and made available to all legal parties and key participants at the conclusion of the hearing. Key participants include anyone who is essential to the successful implementation of the court’s orders such as the parent, legal custodian, child protection worker, in loco parentis, and probation officer. The summary should include:

• All persons present at the hearing;
• If parties were absent, whether they were provided with appropriate notice;
• If a parent, legal guardian, custodian, relative, or other parental substitute was not present, the name of the appointed in loco parentis, and who has responsibility to locate the parent, guardian, relative, or other invested adult for the next hearing;
• If counsel was not present, the plan to ensure the presence of counsel at the next hearing;
• If the issue of competency to stand trial is in question, an order to obtain a decisional capacity assessment, specifying who is responsible to make these arrangements;
• Any rights waived by the youth;
• The plea that was entered, and whether the juvenile justice court accepted the plea;
• If the youth denied the allegations, whether the case will be referred to a dispute resolution alternative, and if so, the details of the alternative;
• If the case is set for trial or a probable cause hearing on a motion to waive and transfer, a description of pre-trial issues that were addressed, identification of any pre-trial issues that still need to be addressed, and the juvenile justice court judge’s expectation of how these remaining issues will be resolved;
• If this is a detention hearing, either the reasons why it is necessary to continue to detain the youth or an order to release the youth specifying any restrictions. If the youth is released and the victim is not in court when this decision is made, either the prosecutor or a probation officer should notify the victim of the youth’s release;
• If the juvenile justice court believes there is any possibility that Title IV-E funds will be used for the youth’s placement or services, or if Title IV-E funds are currently being used for the youth’s placement or services, and if the youth was placed in detention, a determination as to why remaining in the home was contrary to the youth’s best interest and welfare. For all Title IV-E eligible youth, whether detained or not detained, findings of fact as to what reasonable efforts were and are being made to keep the youth in the home or to return the youth to the home;
• If the youth is not in detention, description of any restrictions placed on the youth until the next hearing;
• Any evaluations or services that the youth needs prior to the next hearing and who is responsible to obtain the services; and
• The next hearing date and time, and the purpose of the hearing.